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CONSERVIAN
Coastal Bird Conservation
2022
CONSERVIAN'S BAHAMAS EXPEDITION STAFF
​Margo Zdravkovic
Chief Expedition Officer,
Conservian Director
Founder of Conservian and its Coastal Bird Conservation program Margo Zdravkovic has designed and overseen all field projects since the CBC program's 2003 inception.
Margo's work includes publication of the Wilson's Plover Range-Wide Species Conservation Plan (2013), produced for the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. She is currently authoring a U.S. Gulf Coast Beach-Nesting Bird Assessment and Management Guidelines for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Margo will lead Conservian Bahamas Expedition participants in shorebird surveys, monitoring, and implementation of of shorebird protective measures as well as working with the Expedition team on invasive pine removal.
Scott Hecker
Shorebird Consultant,
Expedition Photographer
Scott Hecker, Conservian board member and co-founder, earned a Master of Science degree in Belize. He serves as environmental and shorebird consultant for organizations including Conservian and the International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC).
Scott led Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Piping Plover recovery efforts, resulting in the threatened species'
state population increasing from 126 pairs in 1987 to 530 pairs by 2002. He
subsequently served as Director of National Audubon’s Coastal Bird Conservation program and currently works with ICFC to manage and develop the organization’s shorebird conservation efforts.
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Maureen Lilla
Expedition Photographer
Conservian board member and
scientific editor, Maureen Lilla
graduated from Brandeis University and Rhode Island School of Design. As a RISD graphic design major, she studied photography with Harry Callahan, known as one of the most influential photographers in American history.
Recently retired from United Airlines as an international 'jumbo jet" pilot, Maureen focuses her camera on travel and concert-stage subjects. She will be aboard to document our
scientific work and take souvenir photos of participants as well as to assist volunteers bringing their own cameras or interested in sharing Photoshop tips.
Will Mackin
BirdsCaribbean Seabird
Project Lead
Will Mackin, Ph.D studied the vocal behavior of Audubon's Shearwaters as a doctoral student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Since then, he has led efforts to map and protect seabird colonies in the Caribbean, and he has banded thousands of seabirds in the Bahamas. Will is the co-chair of the BirdsCaribbean Seabird Group.
Will and Bahamas seabird project volunteers will focus on locating, counting, and banding colonial seabirds in an effort to understand why these species are disappearing from breeding sites they occupied only a decade ago.
​Thomas Wilmers
Restoration &
Conservation Advisor
Recently retired from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tom Wilmers is Project Restoration Supervisor, working with invasive plants. He shares his experiences from thirty years’ work with invasive plant species including Australian pine) control in the Florida Keys.
Tom's focuses on advising and assisting with project planning in Conservian efforts to control and eradicate the environmentally intrusive Australian pine.
Project Partners
Grants & Inkind Support
Our conservation work in the Bahamas is made possible through our partnerships with: BirdsCaribbean, Bahamas National Trust, International Conservation Fund of Canada, USFWS/NMBCA, Nuttall Ornithological Society, Bahamas Public Works, LightHawk, Dow AgroSciences, Grand Bahama Nature Tours, Optics for the Tropics, Grand Bahama Port Authority, Bahamas Public Parks & Beaches Authority, Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology Commission, Rand Nature Center, Abaco Friends of the Environment, Treasure Cay Community Center, Royal Bahamas Police Force/Marine Support.
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